Preparation

Place mussels in heavy large Dutch oven, cover and cook over high heat until mussels open, shaking pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain mussels, reserving liquid. Transfer mussels to bowl; discard any that do not open. Tent bowl with foil.

Melt butter in same Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons parsley, lemon juice, lemon peel and reserved liquid from mussels and bring to boil. Season to taste with pepper. Drizzle garlic butter over mussels. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley.

One of the few recipes if not the only one I've found on the net without the use of alcohol.
And it proves that these can be absolutely delicious and family friendly meals packed with proteins, high on taste and low in calories without unnecessary ingredients. Very fast to make requiring very little efforts really and readily found ingredients!
My eleven year old niece asks me to make her these all the time and that's an odd thing for a kid to enjoy.

Excellent!! Perfect melding of all the ingredients. We have a dairy allergy so used Earth Balance organic whipped butter. Also followed another reviewer and sauted in the dutch oven, then splashed in some white wine, and then dumped in the mussels to cook in sauce. Five minutes was perfect--nice and tender. It didn't look like a lot of sauce, and I was surprised I was still scooping it up with the shells with the last mussel. Also, I didn't have shallots but had a lonely leek rolling around in the drawer--so I chopped that finely. Presto. Milder than an onion. kids loved it. Fastest entree ever! And at $5 for 2# bag of mussel--gourmet food at a bargain. Thanks!!!!

I asked my husband about having mussels for dinner - his response, "I don't really care for mussels." Well, I was craving mussels so I made this recipe and it was a hit with the family. Even my husband said "This is amazing - I love this!" I made the mistake of not removing the mussel liquid before adding the butter to saute the shallots and garlic but it came out fine. I did add some white wine to the recipe. This is a restaurant-quality recipe in my opinion and it's fast and easy.

Modify this recipe ever so slightly and make your life easier. There's no reason to make the sauce separately. Make the sauce in your dutch oven as written (add white wine like people suggest) and then throw in the mussels. Serve directly from the pot. These were sooooo yummy. Everyone loved them.

Hands down the best mussels recipe there is. i am a believer. i had this with scrambled eggs on the side for brunch. wanted something luxuriously outrageous. follow recipe to the letter ... and yes do the mussels step one as indicated. otherwise its not gonna work.

This was JUST perfect! I now made this recipe a few times and substituted parsley with thyme. I also added a splash of bacon schnaps to it. Personally, when I make mussels, this is pretty much the only recipe I use.
For those who are skeptical about the water, the mussels contain a lot of water and open up, releasing the water, it makes for excellent flavour. I scoop up the sauce with baguette.

Easy, delicious, beautiful presentation. I had to re-read the receipe and verify that the mussels do go into a dry pot. Don't worry, it works perfectly. The sauce is so simple but the taste is complex. I will make this again and again.

Excellent recipe!
My husband and I
LOVED it! Made
exactly as described
with the exception
of adding a splash
of white wine to the
sauce. Was
surprised at not
having to add water
when steaming the
mussels, but it
worked just fine and
had a decent amount
of cooking juice
when steaming was
complete. Ate with
crusty bread which
was nice and would
have it that way
again, however next
time (since there
was so much sauce)
we are going to
remove the shells
and toss the mussels
and sauce with a
pasta for a
different twist.
This is definitely a
wonderful dish that
I look forward to
making for guests!
It is sure to be a
hit!!!

I was skeptical about putting mussels in a dry pot, but they were moist and tender. I thought being able to reduce the sauce after cooking the mussels made it more complex and flavorful. My 3 year old licked his plate. Don't be scared to try it!

So easy and delish! I halved the recipe
(for an appetizer for 3 of us) and added
some dry white wine. Served it up with
sliced & toasted seeded baguette (just
broiled a cookie sheet of them for 2
minutes). Out of site! Maybe I'll add
crushed red pepper next time! This
recipe is a keeper!!

My first attempt at cooking mussels and must say I'm delighted to find such a delicious recipe first try. Quick & easy; we enjoyed a fun dinner with salad and baguette. Thank you to previous reviewers for wine idea. I will try next time!

My favorite restaurant for mussels recently changed ownership and it's menu, so I was thrilled to find this little gem of a recipe. I did take some advice from previous reviewers - white wine, crushed red pepper, etc - and it was really fantastic. Serve it with a leafy salad and a fresh loaf of bread and you have a great meal!

This is an excellent appetizer or snack, and so incredibly simple and quick. I added white wine instead of lemon juice ( I was too lazy to find a lemon) and it was way better than any restaurant version I've ever had.

I found that 3 tbsp of butter with a little olive oil (to prevent it from burning) is PLENTY. When you return the mussels to the pan, add a splash of white wine, and there'll be more than enough juice to mop up with good bread. Also the slivers to lemon peel add an interesting bite - overall, an exceptionally simple, but outstanding recipe!